ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE COVER STORY HIBISCUS: NEW POSSIBILITIES IN
When a new thermal imaging telescope is sent into orbit at the end of 2026, it will open new possibilities to combat global
warming and increase heat efficiency for urban planners. The telescope’s unique unfolding design, driven by maxon motors,
achieves a compact footprint for rocket launch that is set to increase commercial viability across a broad range of applications
heat is also expensive, so government authorities and businesses need to manage heat efficiency for commercial benefit. The most effective approach to monitoring is through a heat map, generated by satellite imagery. However, up to now, this option hasn’t been widely available – but that is set to change with the launch of Hibiscus. Scheduled to be sent into orbit at the close of 2026 via a SpaceX rocket, Hibiscus is a new type of satellite that will bring down the cost of thermal imaging, opening the benefits of ultra-high resolution heat mapping to a wide range of applications. This could range from agricultural uses, where thermal pictures can assess irrigation performance, to security cases with heat mapping of vehicles, to sustainability planning with urban energy use monitoring. Equipped with a high-resolution camera, Hibiscus will capture thermal images accurate to +/- half a degree centigrade, with area precision down to the size of a car. A key commercial advantage of Hibiscus, which is being developed by Super-Sharp Space Systems, a team originating out of the University of Cambridge, is its low size and weight, combined with a folding design. Launch cost is a significant factor, where Hibiscus will share the footprint of the SpaceX rocket with other satellites. However, Hibiscus’ innovative design will occupy a much smaller volume compared to existing thermal imaging satellites in
M
Henrique Tome, Vicky Schofield and George Jarvis, SuperSharp engineers, working on a satellite prototype
inimising heat escaping from infrastructure and buildings is crucial in the fight against global warming. Lost
transit. This will result in a significantly lower manufacturing and launch cost, making satellite thermal imagery commercially viable for a much larger market. “With our telescopes, you will be able to get four times better resolution per unit cost, meaning that you can match the current state-of-the-art in thermal imaging from space using a satellite the size of a microwave,” explains Marco Gomez-Jenkins, CEO, SuperSharp. “If our clients need higher image resolution further still, we can scale up to a larger platform with a larger version of our telescope to capture the sharpest thermal images available in the market.”
CEO of SuperSharp, Marco Gomez-Jenkins
ONBOARD FEEDBACK GIVES AUTOMATED POSITION CONTROL Essential to the capability of Hibiscus is the nanometre-precision control of its mirrors, responsible for reflecting light from the target location towards the telescope’s sensors. This is combined with an onboard metrology system that measures the light, creating a feedback loop that automates alignment of the mirrors. “When you’re operating in low Earth orbit, there
are a lot of changes in the environment because of thermal cycling. The feedback loop involving
the onboard metrology system will enable Hibiscus to automatically update position every ten seconds to enable the capture of extremely sharp images,” says Gomez-Jenkins. “That’s a huge advantage because you don’t need to rely on manual operation of the telescope, 24/7, to update the desired position of the mirrors.” Hibiscus is so called because of its five,
unfolding mirror ‘petals’, named after the flower with the same variation. The deployment of mirror ‘petals’ is fundamental to the telescope’s ability to capture thermal images. Aware of maxon’s partnership in various space and satellite applications, notably NASA’s Mars rover programme, SuperSharp engaged the motor specialist to develop a drive system fit for the demands.
Kieran Bhuiyan and Richard Dawn, members of the Electronics and Software teams
12 DESIGN SOLUTIONS FEBRUARY 2025
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